G'day to mysterious China

G'day.

I"ve been teaching this to all the Chinese teachers at my school. Bless. They now say it to me upon my arrival in the morning. I suppose this journey abroad has somewhat instilled a sense of patriotism in myself. It is true though, only in my absence have I realised the luckyness and opportunities bestowed upon us, merely by being born where we are. I mean, just having the basic security of a fair wage commission, adequate welfare, support for those with disabilities. The list could go on for days. Don't be mistaken though, I am relishing my time in this vast land called China, so much so in recent weeks I have endeavoured outside of the Shenyang community to places including; the wonderful Beijing, a small coastal city called Dalian and a few locations in Inner Mongolia. What a delight this country is.

I wish I knew more about Chinese culture. Their traditions and holidays are so mysterious to me, even still. From the 22nd to the 24th of October a celebration called the Mid-Autumn Festival took place. It was a grand time. I got to try the Chinese food delicacy, 'Moon Cake' and have 3 days of no teaching.
''What does a foreign teacher do during this time?'' I hear you ask! Well, us Shenyangians (Shenyangians; n; a term used to describe the 16 or so teacher interns placed in Shenyang, including myself, which hang out on a regular basis) got our travel bug on and after much difficultly, boarded a train to Dalian. The train ride was so lovely. Train rides that last for 4 hours are simply wonderful. I can just gaze out the window and admire all the wonder. Read a book. Listen to some tunes. And not get annoyed.

Dalian, what I liked most about this little metropolis were the blue skies. Everyday. Upon our arrival, we checked into the hotel, just so our basic physiological needs could be met. It was nice. Our view of the city was incredible (20th floor). Then just had a general browse around the city, it was small. Small for China, I should say. It just had this relaxed atmosphere, this vibrancy and intriguing architecture. I don't really remember the chronology of the trip, so I will just pick out a few highlight worthy moments. Finding Dairy Queen! This place completes me. They serve their ice creams upside down. Just saying, it's a bit awesome. That evening we went for a miscellaneous wander around the city and stumbled upon a small congregation of Chinese teenagers rollerblading. Their skills were really impressive. They were weaving around witches cones and doing various other tricks I'm not sure how to word.

I almost failed to mention, our trip to the beach. Potentially one of my favourite days in China thus far. Just chilling at the beach.
Jumped on a bus, jumped off the bus and there we were. I got really excited to see the horizon. The sun just decided to be golden that day, so thank you sun! Upon reaching the shoreline however, I did notice something obscure. PEBBLES, and sand. Mainly pebbles though. I imagine that is what every beach in England resembles, but for Australia it is an obscuirty. Not one that displeased me, just one I wasn't used to. I basked in the sun's glory for a short time, then went for a brisk stroll up and down the beach. It was stunning, mainly due to these gorgeous islands visible in the distance.

Another highlight was on the last day, and our trip to 'Labour Park'. The Chinese know how make a day at the park memorable. They make it aesthetically wondrous, fill it with an abundance to do and put a TV tower at the top- only accessible by a strenuous walk or cable car, ohh and they give it a most remarkable 365 degree view of the city. I only know because I went up there. Which transportation method did I take? It's irrelevant. I toboganned down. Which I enjoyed more than thoroughly.

I may be incorrect in saying this, but National Day on October 1st, potentially the 2nd largest holiday in Chinese culture? Ah well. I spent that particular day at Tiananmen Square, which is a kind of big deal considering 61 years ago, on that day, the People's Republic of China was founded by dear old Mao Ze Dong. And they celebrate this day by holding military shows at none other than Tiananmen Square. Millions converge on the square for this day, and that is believable. It was massive. They decorated the square with flowers, and these extremely long stone blocks which had none other than televisions inside of them. It was quite outlandish.

Our hostel was within walking distance of the square and a bit off topic, but our hostel- actually the greatest hostel ever. The walls were filled with notes from all those that travelled through it's halls and we got to leave a message there to. It was nice. I quoted Kahlil Gibran. He is appropriate for every situation. Back to National Day, which I should clarify is not exclusive to October 1st. Most of China has a one week holiday, and I was part of that lucky majority. I once again went travelling, first to Beijing then to Inner Mongolia, then to Beijing again.

Inner Mongolia was incredible, absolutely incredible. I remember when I stepped off the train. This chill just hit my bones. A chill I was not anticipating. Wearing only a jumper and jeans I was not expecting 1 degree celsius temperatures, but we dealt. By we, I am a referring to myself and my roomates Molly, that wonderful Australian and Konny, the crazy but hilarious German. Okay, so Molly and I didn't really know what to do at all, except shiver and wear as much clothing as possible. We boarded a tour bus straight away and went on our way from Hohot (the capital of Inner Mongolia) to Bautou, a city about an hour and a half away. Upon reaching this destination, the cold weather still subsisted, but the scenery distracted me from any negative feelings. Just these vast, open and wide landscapes. Stretching so far into the distance. There was not a single sky scraper in sight.

This place was called the Grass Lands and I liked them very much so. We went horse riding for two hours through them. And by horse riding, I don't mean anyone led us by string. These were real horses and we rode them by our lonesome. Sometimes the horses just decided to be non conformists and trot off and freak everyone out. No injuries took place, suprisingly, just sore bottoms the following day. We made a few pitstops on the horses, first to eat some Mongolian sweets, which were quite delicious, second to make a wish on this stone structure. I think mine came true.

After horse riding, it was lunch, where we were presented with a Mongolian scarf. I still have it in my ownership. A king and queen were selected for a ceremony to carve the lamb-lamb is kind of a big deal in Inner Mongolia. They cooked it like I would have on a Sunday evening back in Australia. It made me crave gravy. My friend Anna was the queen, she is Swedish and an absolute menace. I call her a behemoth because she is so tall. The king was moderately smaller than her, so when he had to piggy back her around the entirety of the restaurant, hilarity ensued. Baijo! -rice wine. Like, the most alcoholic drink ever. It's quite common in Inner Mongolia apparently. We had to take a shot of it upon arriving in Bautou and then again at the lunch ceremonial thing. Anna though, being the queen had to have 2 (quite large) bowls. Let's just say, she got a little intoxicated and later did some Mongolian style wrestling. I love that girl. Good egg.

The second day in Inner Mongolia involved going to the desert, which was once again amazing. I took quite a few pictures, potentially too many of merely sand. But it was just so visually stunning, these silhouettes of sand. At first it was a cable car ride, then a camel ride, then a train ride, then some walking and then we reached some sand sculptures which were quite remarkable. Took a few pictures of them. And a few moments later a traditional Mongolian dance occured. It was quite spectacular, I attribute it mainly to the guy which was playing with fire. Inner Mongolia was being pretty awesome. With it's beautiful landscapes and the wonderful company it kept.

Slightly off topic, but I was a bit of a popular gentleman in Inner Mongolia. First instance, eating dinner and the waiting staff start taking pictures of me on their phones- no, not the attractive blonde girl next to me. Second instance, visiting a temple in Hohot- a family of ten all ask for individual photos with me, then a collective one. This was subsequently followed by another two families asking for my face in pictures with their children. Most cities in China, locals are quite fascinated by Westerners, but not usually so much those with brown hair and eyes. It was flattering nonetheless. By far the most flattering occurence was when I was escorted off the tour bus by the guide because there was a young Chinese girl that had seen me through the window and wanted to know my name and phone number. Cute.

Inner Mongolia was great. But then it was back to Beijing, before the last stop- home, Shenyang. Upon our return to Beijing, it was straight off to the Temple of Heaven. Which was stunning. And huge. It was just such a lovely day spent there. Almost 6 hours. It was just filled with greenery and parks and, suprisingly temples. When the sun was setting it was most wonderful. At one point during the day, in the late afternoon. Molly, Anna and I helped out a busker by singing for him and attracting a large crowd of Chinese people. Earlier in the day I made up this song, in Chinese. Basically it just says 'ni feichang piaoliang' many times, which translated means 'you're very beautiful.' People were bopping along and smiling. It was nice.

The next day was the final day of the holiday, and it was spent at a place called Beihai Park, directly adjacent the Forbidden City, it was really lovely. I didn't get to explore it as much as I would have liked. This was due to time constraints for the train ride home. But let's just say I had a most endearing and memorable afternoon on a paddle boat in Beihai Park. That was it. All has been swell since my return to Shenyang, I have resumed teaching and love every moment of it. The weather is cooling down, last evening it was 6 degrees celsius. I am excited for what is about to come. Yet to get home sick, which is nice. That's not to say I miss every member of my life back in Australia.

I know this is long, and probably at times boring, but I just really wanted to provide a detailed synopsis of my adventures. I hope it was enjoyable for the most part.

Love from Tyler.